


The First Dance

by Meaka



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe, Ballet, Erwin talking a big game, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-20
Updated: 2020-12-20
Packaged: 2021-03-11 05:08:23
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,650
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28199625
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Meaka/pseuds/Meaka
Summary: Despite being one of the most desirable bachelors and eminent ballroom dancers on the current world stage, newly-single Erwin Smith needs a push when it comes to meeting new people, and always expects to be the best on any dance floor.Tonight, it seems he may have met his match.
Relationships: Levi/Erwin Smith
Comments: 7
Kudos: 47





	The First Dance

“So, are you coming?”

Erwin looked up from the sofa at his tall, blonde housemate, whose fringe had now grown so shaggy that it almost completely obscured his eyes. “I’ve had a really long day training, Mike. My feet ache quite badly and I kinda just want to put them up and read my book.” Curling his toes experimentally, there really was a bit of discomfort in his arches. Perhaps he needed to see his podiatrist again.

“Oh come on Erwin, you gotta come,” Mike looked at him in exasperation, swishing his bangs out of his face. “It’s their final night on tour and they’ll have a huge celebration. Think, a whole hall full of dancers!” Mike swayed in front of him in a poor imitation of a waltz.

Holding back a chuckle at the man with the worst case of two left feet the world had ever seen, Erwin shook his head and looked back down at his book, “I have literally no reason to be present. They’ll think I’m just gate crashing.”

“Nana’s invited us.”

Erwin raised an eyebrow at this new information, “Your new friend is one of the ABT dancers?”

“Hopefully by the end of tonight she’ll be more than just my friend.” Mike winked cheekily at him while dowsing one of Erwin’s expensive colognes all over himself. “Come on dude. Come and be my wing-man at least.”

Maybe it would be interesting, Erwin mused. He had been single for a while now, and the idea of meeting another dancer who wasn’t directly in his field was a tempting one. He felt like he knew everyone in the ballroom scene too well; they were more like brothers and sisters, and he struggled to see any of them as a serious romantic interest. And the whole online dating thing just hadn’t worked out.

That was how he found himself dragged to the after party of the American Ballet Theatre’s Spartacus US Tour Finale. Erwin had seen ballet dancers on TV before, but had never found himself wanting to attend a live performance, though he had to admit that the opportunity to watch people dance around in Lycra did make it awfully tempting at times. As a youngster, he had been sucked into the false belief that ballet was only for girls and feminine men. He had overcome this misbelief somewhat as he had aged, but prejudices were hard to shake.

After being introduced by Mike as a competitive ballroom dancer, a line of very fit and pretty young women had appeared wanting to take him for a spin. Erwin had indulged them, glad that the DJ was playing normal music at the party, and not just Swan Lake on repeat. The music dictated what dance to lead in. Erwin’s real love was swing dancing. He looked the part of the all-American, blonde, boy next-door guy, and loved the rhythm, but he could knock out an excellent foxtrot, and always did well in the rumba, Cha Cha and waltz categories in comps as well. Tonight for his partners’ sake he led them in easy to follow jives, and even danced with Nanaba at one point, making sure to sing Mike’s praises as he did.

It wasn’t long after that he spotted the two of them standing closely together, hips angled towards each other and flirting shyly with each other. He grinned, glad for his friend. Once he was content that Mike and Nanaba no longer required his winging services, he stepped out onto the balcony to get some fresh air. It was hot inside the grand old ballroom, with well over two hundred people dancing and celebrating with all their might. He managed a few minutes of solitude before a slight figured, dark-haired man also came out to catch his breath.

Erwin felt his heat stop. The man was stunning, with eye liner accentuating his feline eyes and an incredible body. He was dressed in a round-neck, white, long-sleeved shirt, well-fitted black pants and an expensive-looking pair of shoes with a matching belt. Erwin’s gaydar was sirening loudly.

Erwin nodded at him in what he hoped was a nonchalant fashion, and the man returned the acknowledgement, then gulped a glass of water down in one go. Erwin watched the man’s throat bob as he did so, before he set the glass down and leaned on the balcony. With one hand the guy slicked back his sweat soaked bangs from his face and turned his body towards Erwin.

“You got some good moves,” the man had a surprisingly deep voice considering his height. Judging from where he stood beside the wide, stone bannister, Erwin estimated he must have only been a few inches over five foot tall. Erwin took a look around. There was no one else present outside. The man was definitely talking to him.

“Thanks. Ballroom is more my thing, but I can jive when required,”

“Levi,” the man put his hand out.

“Erwin,” they shook hands. Erwin could feel the heat coming off Levi’s body, presumably from partying hard.

“Smith?”

Erwin looked surprised, “Uh yeah. Have we met before? I’m sorry I don’t remember-“

“No, we haven’t. I’ve seen you on TV before, during the DanceSport comps. Swing, right?” The man’s voice was distinctly Floridian, but had the slight twang of both Russian and French accents that made him a delight to listen to. “You came second in the world championships.”

“Yeah. Wow, good memory. I compete in all the ballroom comps, but swing is definitely my favourite.”

“Yeah, I could tell from watching you. Your shit-eating grin for the judges was less fake when you performed swing. Your wife is your dance partner, right?”

“Soon-to-be ex-wife.”

“Oh, sorry.” The man neither sounded nor looked sorry. In fact, he looked rather pleased.

“Don’t be. Is Petra your partner?” Erwin had seen Nanaba’s friend standing beside the man and looking at him adoringly. In that moment, he desperately needed to know if it was an exclusive arrangement.

“No, she’s my housemate. You came here with Nana’s friend?”

Erwin felt a twang of excitement at hearing he had no competition. “Yeah, we’re housemates. Both living the bachelor’s life.”

“How does one do that exactly?”

A big, blonde eyebrow raised in curiosity, “You’ve never been single?”

“Of course I have. I am most of the time.” Levi hoisted himself up to sit on the balcony and swung his legs around to rest his feet up with him, his back leaning against the cool stone wall. The man clearly had no fear of heights. “But I’ve not been in the States as an adult for very long yet, and I live with women who all consider me their gay best friend. I don’t exactly spend much time swilling beer shirtless and cheering at football on the TV.”

“No. Instead you watch men dancing?”

“Naturally.” He ran a finger around the edge of his now-empty glass and spoke slowly, enunciating every word, “I like watching their hips move.” Those lovely grey eyes darted down to Erwin’s crotch as he spoke, then smoothly ran back up his body to meet his gaze.

Letting out a hearty laugh, the blonde shook his head, “Men don’t really all swill beer you know.”

Levi shrugged at him, “It’s what the media here would have me believe I should be doing as a single, white man. Comparatively in Russia, one should swill copious amounts of vodka and jump into freezing cold water to show how manly one is.”

Erwin gestured at the glass still in Levi’s hand, “Are you tee total? Or was that actually a huge glass of vodka?”

Holding up the empty glass and regarding it lazily, Levi shook his head, “No, it was water. Alcohol just doesn’t do much for me. Did you come and watch the show?”

“No, I came with Mike because Nanaba invited him, and he felt awkward coming alone.”

Levi paused for a moment, “So you and your friend are just here to chase skirt?”

“Is that not why you’re here?”

“I chase tailored pants,” Levi tugged at the collar of his white shirt, clearly still trying to cool off. It was dark outside, but the light streaming out from the ballroom windows showed steam rising off his body, “You not into ballet then?”

Attempting to act cool, Erwin leaned back against the bannister to best show off his physique, “Never really thought about it. It’s pretty samey. In ballroom you have to be versatile between the different varieties of dance. Ballet in comparison looks pretty but it’s nowhere near as fast-paced, and unless you’re in a lead role I’m not convinced anyone pays attention to you prancing around. And-“ Erwin grinned, “-the leotards.”

Levi snorted back a derisive laugh, “You think all they do is prance about in Lycra, huh?”

Defensively, Erwin put his hands up, “I mean, don’t get me wrong, it’s very pretty. But if all you see from your housemate is ballet then you are missing out big time.”

“Alright then,” Levi hopped down from where he was seated in a precise feline movement, “I like learning about all kinds of dance. Why don’t you teach me something?”

The DJ had just put on Despacito and the sounds of the music were drifting out to the balcony. “How about salsa?”

Boldly striding up to him, Levi smirked, “Show me what I’m missing out on, Erwin Smith.” Stepping closer to him, Levi put out a hand which Erwin tried hard not to take _too_ eagerly.

Now sure that Levi was interested in him, Erwin turned on the charm, “Well alright, but we’re going to have to get closer than your ballet-dancing friends would normally like. We have to actually face each other and get close. Like this.” Erwin pulled Levi in towards himself, placing Levi’s hand up on his shoulder before settling his own hand on the small of the man’s back. “And you put your left hand in my right hand.”

Levi felt wonderful against him; they slotted together seamlessly and Erwin prayed that he didn’t get a poorly-timed erection and scare the other man off.

“It might start out slow and then speed up,” Erwin warned as he began to guide Levi through a few basic steps.

Giving another small smirk, Levi licked his lips, “I’m sure I can manage,”

As the song continued, Erwin tried to impress without intimidating. A hammer lock flick here, a few different inside turn variations there. Salsa was great for being able to lead an inexperienced partner, particularly when there was such a clear beat to the music. Levi was a delight to lead, and he didn’t once trip up on his own feet or step on Erwin’s. In fact, it seemed almost as if he knew what he were doing. But as the dance went on, Erwin felt Levi try to turn tables and began pushing to take the lead instead.

In vain, Erwin tried to regain control of the situation, “You aren’t letting me lead you. You’re supposed to follow.”

“Am I?” Levi grinned at him roguishly, “All I remember agreeing to was letting you teach me, not lead me. You don’t like being led?”

“I am used to being in control,”

“Oh, I see. Used to being the better dancer huh?”

“You think you’re better than me after just a basic salsa lesson?” Erwin tried to tease, yet at the same time was sensing that it was becoming less and less likely that he was going to impress this man, especially as he did seem to be picking it all up with remarkable ease.

Those dangerous feline eyes flashed, “If you can’t accept another man leading you, then why do you expect me to be led?”

Opening his mouth to make a comment about their height difference, Erwin was stopped before he could start by Levi suddenly disengaging and walking back towards the ballroom.

“Perhaps once you take the stick out of your ass we can try again. Till then, Smith.” And with a backwards wave, Levi turned tail and left.

Erwin was left standing on the balcony, the supple body against his now just a memory. Levi had felt _so_ good pressed against him, and he smelled wonderfully fit and darkly masculine. Annoyed that he’d probably lost his one chance to get to know the first person he’d felt a spark of real chemistry with for a long time, Erwin returned inside to tell Mike he was heading home to wallow in a book.

“Hey, Erwin!” Mike gestured him over from the bar, waggling a full pint of beer in the air. Once Erwin got close, Mike leaned in to whisper, “I owe you one. We’re getting on really well.”

“I’m glad for you,” downing half the drink in one go, Erwin sighed and rubbed a hand down the side of his face.

Having known each other since high school, Mike had a firm grasp on when Erwin was pissed off at himself, “What’s the matter?”

Erwin’s hand began rubbing vacantly behind his ear, “I met this guy. He seemed cool and I thought we were getting on really well. So I offered to teach him a bit of salsa dancing, and then he tried to lead me and I stupidly let my pride get in the way.” Annoyed at himself, he tried to justify his feelings, “But why someone would try and lead a professional dancer is beyond me. He should have just let me shown him the moves.”

Mike pulled a pretend sad face, “Sounds like someone is butt hurt.”

“I am not,” he replied, a bit too defensively.

“Who was it?” Nanaba piped up, curious as to who Erwin was grouching about.

“Him, over there. With Petra,” Erwin felt his eyebrows raise as he pointed over to where Levi was dancing with Nanaba’s friend, and seemed to be incorporating some of the salsa moves he had just taught him.

“The small one?” She asked slowly, giving him a strange look. “With the dark hair?”

“Yeah, and the scowly little face,”

Mike and Nanaba exchanged an amused look.

“What?”

“Dude, that’s Levi. Even _I_ know who that is,” Mike was looking at him incredulously and trying not to laugh.

“What? So is he a ballet dancer too?”

Nanaba laughed, “He’s one of the principal ballet dancers of the ABT, Erwin. He performs as Crassus, one of the leads.”

With an inward groan Erwin realised he had insulted the man right from the start.

Oops.

Mike tapped on his phone and turned it to show Erwin, “I mean, correct me if this is wrong Nana, but the internet is telling me that Levi Ackerman is currently listed as the World DanceSport Federation’s most famous dancer. And he seems to hold a crazy number of records.”

“He’s held that spot for three years,” she agreed. “Levi is the best dancer I’ve ever seen. He doesn’t make mistakes. _Ever_.” Nanaba stroked her chin thoughtfully, “Except that one time in Vegas and we all panicked and assumed he was having a stroke. Turned out he’d actually broken his ankle earlier in the day but didn’t want to let the audience down so tried to perform anyway. We all thought he looked a bit more pale and sullen than usual, but it can be kinda hard to tell with him. He fainted on stage and it was utter pandemonium. The press had a field day.”

“Levi Ackerman,” Erwin tasted the name on his tongue, then paused and furrowed his forehead in concentration.

The name _was_ familiar. Suddenly needing to do some detective work of his own, Erwin hastily excused himself and almost ran to the men’s room.

Taking a free cubicle, Erwin set the lid down and took a seat with his phone in hand, settling in for a long search through Google and YouTube. For the next forty minutes he ended up falling down a whole rabbit hole of recordings of Levi. In disbelief he watched video after video of the slight man he had failed to seduce on the balcony as he moved with impossible strength and grace across world stages, looking utterly magnificent in numerous stage costumes. Curious, Erwin also looked up a news reel of the man collapsing on stage in Vegas; women were screaming and the whole ABT crew ceased their coordinated movements to assist him.

It hit him like a tonne of bricks.

Fuck.

Erwin smacked his forehead.

Levi fucking Ackerman. Of course he’d heard of him. Who hadn’t? Erwin wanted to smack himself again. Multiple times. Maybe against a brick wall or two.

Unable to stop himself searching further, eventually he wandered onto Levi’s Wikipedia page.

As a child, Levi had been the youngest sponsored dancer in the world. He had been a child prodigy and had first become famous aged six when he had appeared on the Ellen show as the orphan who had the fastest feet in Florida, sealing himself as a dance legend and instantly lifting himself out of poverty and onto the world’s stage. The video of him aged six years old with Ellen was adorable, and Erwin was frankly amazed that a child with no training could move the way Levi had been able to. The Vaganova Academy in Russia had head-hunted him not long after, and he hadn’t even required an audition; something unheard of since they’d first opened to train ballet dancers in the 18th century. Levi had excelled and quickly mastered the intensive training program the academy put him through that most failed to finish. At the tender age of only sixteen, he was then immediately recruited by the academy’s parent company, the Mariinsky Ballet, the foremost ballet company in the world according to some.

After nearly a decade as a highly successful principal dancer in multiple ballets, and a guest artist with other world-famous companies, he had quit the Mariinsky rather unexpectedly and without any explanation. A whiff of scandal had ensued, but no statement had ever been released by the company or Levi himself regarding the mysterious parting of ways.

The dancing world had held its collective breath to see what he would do next, sure that Levi would join the almost-equally prestigious Paris Opera Ballet, especially when they offered him one of their principal danseur roles and the title of Premier danseur noble, an honorific rank to note his exceptional talent. There had been almost disbelief when he had turned down their offer and taken up with the American Ballet Team instead just under a year ago. He’d come home.

As soon as he joined the ABT, he had released a statement to the press where he openly declared his homosexuality. He had ended up being invited back onto the Ellen show to talk dance and coming out, and Erwin watched yet another long video of the whole interview and recap of Levi and Ellen’s first encounter, followed by the smiley host’s subsequent terrible dance with the audience. Levi had stared at her in abject horror, before pulling her into an admirable jive, much to the audience’s delight.

On merely scratching the surface of information available about the ballet dancer, Erwin had gleaned that Levi Ackerman was able to put his hand to almost any type of dance imaginable, and was certainly one of the most widely recognised dancers in the world.

But apparently not to Erwin, who had tried to teach him salsa. And had declared himself the better dancer.

Fuck.

Erwin smacked his forehead hard once again with one hand and gave a little shout of annoyance in what he hoped was still an empty men’s room.

What a fucking idiot.

Once he had dealt with the initial acute shame of his words and behaviour to the superior dancer, Erwin splashed some cold water on his face and gave himself a good hard look in the mirror. Summoning the courage to leave the restroom, he once again went to bid Mike goodnight and make his way home alone.

Out in the ballroom, Erwin’s eyes fixed on Levi as soon as he came into view. And once he started watching, Erwin found himself unable to stop; his plan to go home vanishing into the ether. Levi moved with grace and poise; seamlessly transitioning between different types of dance as the night progressed. He could knock out a break dance, do a Michael Jackson impersonation and then jive his sweet ass off without once missing a step or a beat. He was incredible to behold and Erwin couldn’t take his eyes off him.

God how he wanted to dance swing with him. The slight man’s timing was perfect and not one beat was missed. In that moment, Levi wasn’t a dancer. He became the dance itself. Wikipedia had been right; Erwin was currently privy to one of the greatest artists of the century dancing right in front of him. It was like a language of movement, and Erwin spoke it too; though not as well or as fluently. But then perhaps no one else in the whole world did. Erwin had never known that someone could move quite like this man did.

Erwin’s gaze kept flashing down to the man’s hips and ass, imagining them moving in a similar fashion beneath his own in bed.

Then a tall, dark and extremely handsome man approached Levi and offered to partner him. This dude was nowhere near Erwin’s league in terms of his abilities on the dance floor, but seemed content to be led or followed as Levi dictated. The tall man’s hand kept creeping lower and lower down Levi’s back.

“You know you are standing staring at his ass and breathing heavily like a massive pervert,” Mike had sidled up to him and spoke low in his ear, “And now you are glowering and sulking like a kid, Erwin. Go and talk to him.”

Groaning and putting a hand up to his face in exasperation, Erwin asked, “How can I? He must think I’m an idiot,”

“He keeps peering over at you too. Go.” Mike gave him a little push, but Erwin went rigid, digging his heels into the floor and refusing to budge.

“And say what?” Erwin whispered, still furiously embarrassed at his earlier faux-pas.

“You’re going to go over there and take his hands like this-“, Mike took Erwin’s hands, “-and look him square in the face like this-“, then gazed adoringly at him, “-and say, ‘I’m sorry I was a dick. Please will you dance with me?’”

His voice soft and unsure, Erwin conceded, “That _might_ work.” He looked back over towards Levi who had disengaged from his partner and was walking their way towards the bar.

“It will. You know, if you looked at the judges the way you’re currently looking at Levi, instead of the ridiculously fake grin you normally plaster on during your comps, then you might score higher points on presentation next time you jive around the floor.”

“Shut up.” As he spoke, Levi came within arm’s reach of Erwin as he moved closer and closer to them through the crowd.

With that, Mike whispered, “Good luck,” and pushed Erwin hard, straight at Levi, causing him to nearly knock the other man over.

“Sorry,” Erwin caught Levi round the waist to steady him. “Hey, Levi. Um, can I have a word?”

“A word?” Levi tilted his head as if he were considering Erwin’s request, “Buy me a drink and then you can say as many words as you like. Within reason. Try and get them right this time.”

Blushing red, Erwin turned his face away and set his forearms on the bar, “What would you like?”

“Just a coke will do.”

Once they had their drinks, Erwin took Levi’s free hand and led him through the throng of people out to the balcony. He gave the small hand a tentative squeeze, and when it squeezed back, he felt as excited as a boy at his first prom. There were a few other couples outside chatting or smoking, but no one was going to be paying the two men any attention.

Reluctantly disengaging hands now that there was no good reason to keep a hold, Erwin gathered his courage and gave a fake cough.

Sipping his drink through the straw, Levi arched an eyebrow at Erwin, waiting for him to speak.

“Look, I’m uh-“ stumbling over his words, Erwin cleared his throat and tried again, “I’m really sorry for being a dick earlier. I was trying to impress you and got embarrassed when I failed to do so.”

Continuing to stare unnervingly at him without blinking, Levi hummed, “Well, thanks for the apology. Is that all?”

“No, I was uh-“, this was going _sooo_ smoothly. He was going to be giving himself a stern talking to when he got home, “-uh, I was wondering if you wanted to try and dance again with me? For fun, not to learn anything I mean.”

“For fun?”

“Or we could……do something else?” He asked lamely.

Losing patience now, Levi snapped at him, “What exactly are you asking me? Why are you beating about the bush?”

Smoothing down an eyebrow with one hand, Erwin fessed up, “Look, I’m severely out of practice on the dating scene and you are totally out of my league, so I’m just finding this difficult to say,”

“Out of your league?” Levi appraised him up and down. “You think _I’m_ better looking than _you_?”

“In many respects you are better than me. I know that now.”

“Hmmmm. Flattery will get you _everywhere_ ,” those beautiful grey eyes lit up with playfulness, and Levi moved so close that Erwin could once again feel the heat radiating off from him, and could smell the clean, masculine scent of the man filling his nostrils. Involuntarily, the taller man’s mouth quirked up into a smile.

Levi spoke once again, with a voice as smooth as dark treacle, “So, am I more than a man prancing around prettily in a leotard?”

“Yes.” Erwin whispered in his arousal. Up close, he could see that those attractive grey eyes had no make-up on them. What Erwin had though was guy-liner was in fact just the natural colouring of the contours of Levi’s eyes. “But you know, even if you weren’t, you probably look great in Lycra.”

One of Levi’s hands came up to rest on Erwin’s broad chest, “I don’t do a lot of ballroom dance. There’s still plenty for me to learn, if you could find the time to teach me?”

“I like to teach. That’s the plan one day, to coach.”

“Interesting. I’m pretty new to town. Maybe you can show me around when you aren’t practicing coaching me the Cha cha.”

In disbelief that Mike’s advice had actually worked for once, and astonished at the turn-around, Erwin once again cleared his throat and tried to put on his normal voice, “Can we start again? Hi, I’m Erwin Smith, ballroom dancer and complete idiot.” He extended a hand.

Levi took it and gave it a firm shake, “Hello Erwin Smith, ballroom dancer and complete idiot. I’m Levi, and I would love to show you exactly how good I look in Lycra.”

~~~

Inside, Mike looked over to where Nanaba was pointing, just in time to see Levi pulling an excited looking Erwin by the hand towards the ballroom exit. Grabbing his coat from its hook, Erwin allowed himself to be dragged out the door towards the rest of the old hotel where Levi and the other dancers were staying.

Unable to sound too sad about his friend’s good fortune, Mike sighed, “Well, looks like I’ve lost my ride home.”

“You were going to go home?”

Smirking, Mike put an arm around the petite blonde who was now smiling up at him coyly, “Should I get my coat too?”


End file.
